Xmen: The Midnight Rising
by TwilightMus
Summary: Xmen the movie slash world fic. Magneto attacks, Mystique meets Kitty, bobby likes furry guys, Frosty Storm. ....................... Kitty/Rogue, Storm/Emma, Bobby/Beast, Wolverine/?. X-Men, X-Men Slash, /X-Men, Gay X-Men.
1. Rising

Marvel owns the x-men. I just think they're hot. 

Bobby walked the length of the swimming pool, the chlorinated water lay, covered, for the night with a large blue tarp.

No one was supposed to be out this late. Bobby had a lot of thinking to do. He sat on a lawn chair facing away from the mansion. Tears came before too long. Small droplets of water that traveled down the sides of his face before falling to the ground froze in mid air.

He was lost in thought… confusion… teen angst. He didn't hear the figure approaching him stealthily from behind. Suddenly large fury arms were around him.

"Logan?" he gasped.

Not Logan. Bobby twisted in the embrace to see the face of a large blue cat staring back at him.

"How are you little one?" said the Beast in something resembling a purr.

"I'm alright sir… I think."

Bobby settled back into the large strong arms. The blue fur had a slightly affected aroma, not quite natural. Beast was very tidy when it came to hygiene; the smell was probably from scented bath salts or cologne. Bobby actually didn't care either way, but the sophistication of his companion was oddly comforting after the bizarre ruthlessness of the previous night. 

"Its wolverine isn't it?" Beast whispered into Bobby's ear.

Bobby just nodded.

"He can be rather insensitive when it comes to matters of the flesh… he is a good man, even a caring person…" the Beast stopped mid sentence as if debating the truth of his own words.

"Then why? Today…" began Bobby "He acted like nothing had happened…. Like we didn't… like it was just another day…"

Before the Beast could reply three things happened. Someone screamed from behind inside the mansion. A large red beam ripped out from the hanger beneath the basketball court. And a shadow appeared over the pool area, the figure of a man.

Bobby looked up… the caster of the shadow was sillaueted against the full moon, its details indistinct, but both men below knew who it belonged to.

"Magnus! " Growled the Beast… "Magnus! What on Earth are you doing here?" 

"My dear Mr. McCoy…" said a strong, sweet voice from above "… it has been too long… you've changed, I can't say It's an improvement…"

For a moment but only a moment Beast looked down at his hands, now paws with retractable claws… very imprecise tools for his work they were. That moment was all Magneto needed.

The lawn chair bent itself around the Beast snatching him up in a crushing embrace before flinging itself out across the trees some distance from the mansion.

Bobby just stood and shook with fear.

Magneto floated down beside him and gave him a scrutinizing look. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure." He cooed and stretched out his hand.

Bobby didn't know what to do… he took Magnetos hand in his… magneto leaned over slightly and kissed it in a regal gesture.

"They were right about you… you are quite beautiful young Ice Man." 

"T…Thank you s-sir" stuttered Bobby.

A lead ball came out of no-where and hit Bobby in the side of the head, knocking him unconscious.

"Beautiful, but otherwise un-usefull to me at the moment I'm afraid.

Kitty stalked the halls... she'd seen the red flash of Cyclops's optic blast go off from her bedroom window as she was getting ready to go to sleep.

Quickly she made her way to the end of the hall and tripped the silent alarm, then, she held her breath and sunk through the floor.

Mystique strolled casually up to the Blackbirds control panel. She was going to have to do a number on this, and quickly before the x-men lying on the ground awoke. Cyclops was no match for her, she could handle him, she thought, but Professor Xavier would be difficult to pacify once he was aware of her presence.

She hurriedly opened up the main console and started pulling wires... connecting others here and there in various places... almost done now all she had to do was upload the virus into the mansions security system and...

"Relaying the main thrust router into the navigational circuitry... yeah I can see how that would make it difficult to fly, trying to block your escape?"

Mystique whirled around to see a young freckled girl in her pajamas holding a long engraved wooden stick of some kind standing a good two yards behind her. How had she snuck up so easily? Mystique was no dupe when it came to stealth.

The older woman sneered. "Smart girl." Her eyes flashed yellow.

"A really smart girl would have disabled the homing beacons and stolen the jet as her getaway." retorted the Shadow Cat.

Mystiques eyes narrowed. She lunged at Kitty flipping head over heals into an axe kick that would knock any normal girl unconscious to say the least. Her foot hit floor and she winced in pain for a moment.

"But your not a really smart girl are you Mystique?" said kitty standing in front of her still, completely unharmed.

Mystique kicked out trying to knock her opponents' feet out from under her. Her own leg passed through the girls two pajamaed appendages like a knife through air. "Oh..." thought Mystique "... that girl."

Kitty moved back slowly and brought her boken (which is what the stick turned out to be) up to the side of her head in an offensive back stance.

"Funny," said Kitty "I'd heard you were good."

"I'd heard you were twelve." replied the shape shifter.


	2. Phased

"KIA!"

The boken moved through the bulk head of the hanger bay like it was air, right where Mystique had been a fractional second before.

This was getting out of hand. Who did this girl think she was? She moved with the grace and speed of a trained master and Mystique didn't want to think what would happen if Shadowcat managed to get that stick inside of her for long enough to phase it back in. She could easily take out an organ or two, or sever a limb, like her head.

The worst part was that Mystique couldn't even block or parry just dodge, and she couldn't tell when kitty was solid or not. This was becoming very annoying. Fortunately the professor and the boyscout were still unconscious. If she could just land a hit.

"Move and your dead."

Oops.

Kitty Pryde stood in front of Mystique, boken extended through the blue mutants heart.

Mystique didn't move, Shadowcat could have been bluffing, but something in the way the young woman looked at her; eyes cold and unblinking, ancient she seemed, almost unnaturally so; made Mystique think that she could and would fallow through on her threat.

There was a long pause, then mystique decided to risk it, No way was she being outclassed this easily by someone half her age.

Mystique moved, and Kitty hesitated one second too long… a quick show of agility and Mystique now had her foot through the young girls head.

"You phase, we both die."

"What makes you think I can't just phase the boken?" Questioned Kitty.

"Observation. And I've read your file." Countered the older woman.

Kitty let go of the boken.

Mystique screamed.

A piece of the plane ripped itself off the wing and flew across the room, knocking Kitty through a wall.


	3. Beautiful Minds

Marvel owns the x-men I just think they're hot.

"Emma... Emma Emma... my darling Emma..."

The beautiful dark skinned woman lay over her lovers form. Near white bedsheats draping both of their bodies,  
their white hair mingling together to give the impression of one sensuous cloud flowing and reshaping in the currents of passion.

"Orrrrorro..." purred the blonde as storm leaned over her kissing her neck, gently nibbling down her chest to suckle the errect...

"AEEEEEEEIGGH!"

Emma screamed and began thrashing.

Storm startled back in shock, unconciously holding her lover down as she thrashed and convulsed beneath.

"Emma! Emma? What's wrong!"

Emma continued to scream her eyelids fluttering unnaturaly... blud began dripping down from her right nostril.

"EMMA!"

Storm looked around frantically. This was a psychic attack, she'd seen them before, but rarely this violent or sudden. The look of uncontrolled terror and pain on her lovers normaly poised face scared the african goddess like not much else could.

Storm reached to her belts comlink draped over the headboard.

"Professor! Somethings wrong with Emma!" no answer...

"Professor! Scott! Jean! Anyone do you read! This is an emergency!" nothing... just static.

Storm carefully pulled back off of Emma's contorting form. The blonde was still shaking yet less violently, Orroro prayed this was a good sign, but doubted it.

A nock on the door.

"Thank the Goddess!" said storm, pulling on her nightgown. "Come in!"

The door opened and a small red head peared behind. "Miss Monroe, Miss frost? I heard screaming and I wanted to make sure you were ok... I... I hope I'm not interrupting something?"

Storm quickly began wetting a washcloth as she spoke: "Good... Rhane, come in. Somethings happened to Emma.  
I need you to stay here and watch over here until I can get the Proffesor or Hank up here to look at her. Can you do that for me child?"

Rhane Synclair nodded tentatively.

"Here take this cloth and damp her forhead. I'll be back soon." Instructed Storm.

Rhane did as she was told sitting beside the beautiful nude form of her teacher.

"And Rhane..." added Storm "be on gaurd, something might have happened. Keep my spare comlink and hail me immediately if her condition worsens. Watch over her." Storm's voice faultered a moment on her last command before rushing out the door and down the hall.

"Aye." Rhane nodded.

Storm, still dressed in her night-gown, ran down the halls toward Jeans room. Jean was the closest and most powerful psychic Orroro could think of... although if the proffesor hadn't answered there might be a chance all of the Psies were out of commition.

Jean Grey's door was open slightly. Storm moved cautiously to the side and peared in. The bed was broken in two and there was glass on the floor.

"Jean?"

A concussive blast hit Orroro from the side and sent here flying toward one of the large arched windows overlooking the pool.

She felt the shock of hitting the glass and heard it shatter before she blacked out.

------------------------------------------

I am the almighty scene break line

------------------------------------------

Cerebro was just as he had seen it last. Magneto stood in the large spherical room as he waited for the supercomputer to finish downloading to his flash drive.

And done...

Magnus turned around to see a mans figure standing in the doorway.

"Eric... what are you doing?" said the silauete.

Magneto began walking unconcernedly toward the door.

"Out of my way logan. You can't stop me."

Wolverine stood still, wearing nothing but a pair of sweat pants.

"I know." replied the shorter furrier half naked man.

Magneto reached his obstacle and looked him in the eye.

"Eric, don't do this." came the soft deep voice, a hint of a plea in the command.

Logan reached up toward magneto and touched the side of his face under his helmet. "What is happening to you?"

Logan searched the imposing figures eyes, seeing the pain and stress clearly etched accross magnetos face, wolverine leaned forward, his mouth barely inches from Magneto's.

"I'm sorry." whispered the master of magnatism just before Wolverine flew off to the right and stuck, pinned to the wall.

"I'm not." said another gravely voice, this time from Magnus' left.

Two imposing figures stood at the end of the hallway in front of a large whole in the wall; one was gargantuan and sported a red helmet with matching armor, the other had messy blonde hair, wore no clothes to speak of and was covered in fur.

"Shall we be getting on then." replied magneto walking toward them.

"Everyones reported in but Mystique." said the Juggernaut.

Eric looked concerned, that wasn't like her. "Tell psylocke to pinpoint her location, in the meantime we need to get this information somewhere safe."

Eric lifted his arms and the metal floor they were standing on tore itself away and carried the three figures out the window. A minute later and Wolverine finally came loose from his magnetic shackles

Storm awoke, disoriented, falling through the air... she saw the pool below her just in time to catch her breath before she hit the water with a smack.

Her brain registered the sudden shift in temperature but it didn't shock her like it would most people. She gathered her wits and swam to the surface only to be hit with a nother shockwave that sent her flying toward the deep end.

"I heard the X-babes were supposed to be tough or something... last time I listen to Pyro, little fag."

Storm gained her senses just in time to see a man dressed in grey leather lift his hand toward her.

The wheather goddess reacted on instinct and summoned a gust of wind from above her pushing herself to the bottom of the pool. Her evasopm narrowly dodged the next shock wave that broke the diving board behind her in two with a crash.

"HA, nice hair babe, I can see you down there."

The clouds above turned dark and began to funnel together.

Another shock wave hit storm dead on... she had no time to dodge while summoning the stormclouds and hit the bottom of the pool with a thud... and a crack that might have been one of her ribs.

"HA you gunna hit me with lightning or somethin? You can't do shit! All I have to do is keep you down there till you drown..." boasted Avalanche as he sent a couple more shockwaves her way.

This wouldn't do at all... she needed to get into the air, but SMACK again and she hit the wall with another thud that knocked her breath out of her.

Storm was starting to worry now, and feel a little closed in... she needed to make it to the surface, shee needed to breathe but a couple of shockwaves above her made it clear her adversay wasn't going to make it easy for her.

The sky became still.

Avalanche looked down and saw the white hair flowing in the water. "Makin this too easy bitch."

He sent another shockwave into the pool a few feet off target to toy with her but she didn't dodge... instead she began floating to the surface.. face down.

"Damn... you really did make this too easy." Avalanche took aim again, he wasn't going to take any chances but he didn't notice that the water in the pool had begun to swirl until it was too late.

A spray of water hit him just before he fired making him miss his target...

The water was raising into the air... spinning in a funnel... Avalanche took aim but couldn't see the woman clearly enough within the vortexing waves. When he finally did let off another concusive blast it was refracted and dissipaited through the spinning water.

"I am Orroro Munroe, you sad little boy." came storms booming voice.

Avalanche started to back away...

"Better warriors than you have tried me and failed. Tell me, do you know what a hurricane is?"

Now all of the water in the pool was in the air a frightening vortex contained within the small area of the pool. Avalanche could no longer see through the swirling mass.

"It's a vortex of over a hundred mile an hour winds infused with water above the ocean... do you know how fast water has to go in order to cut through human flesh?"

Avalanche continued backing away in fear... sending concussive blasts in vain at the deadly storm.

"I will give you a hint... " said the X-Goddess with a wry, polite smile "... It's slower than this."


	4. Surveylance

The four shadows stretched over the field as the children piled into buses for their "field trip".

The shadows owners watched warily, keeping an eye out for any sign of danger.

Upon the roof of the Xavier institute was a garden, which was really a post state of the art surveylance system accessable through the greenhouse.

Two statuesque women stood next to one male counterpart and one much shorter angrier companion.

The blonde in the expensive and revealing suit sat down beside the ebony goddess, sipping a very strong mimosa. Though emma would never admit it to the others she was extremely tired and suffering from the after effects of a dissabling migrane, her clothes, her makeup, her posture and her intonation would never have given that away. She was as much a mistress of appearance as her lover was the of the wheather.

Ororro put a calming hand on her shoulder, which she didn't shrug off. That was a good sign to the African power-house. Storm surveyed the sky with a keen eye and an extra sense the others did not possess, making her the perfect towering-watch-mutant against arial assault. She did her best not to let her intense awareness of Ms. Frost distract her. She couldn't afford to, though she wanted nothing more than to take the woman into her arms and her bed and protect her from all the unseen pains of the world.

Scott Summers had spent the earlier part of the day kicking himself mentally for allowing the events of the previous night to occur. All the usual doubts and recalculations swam through his head, but once he had finished assesing the situation and berating himself for good measure he set about devising a system that would be immune from the tactics of last nights assault upon the school.

For starters the psychics went down first, which meant the school was relying too heavily upon their abilities as an early warning and not offering them enough protection. What's worse the telepathic assault had come from cerebro itself, someone had hacked the mainframe and set off a psychic feedback loop which caught the telepaths within their own minds, the stronger they tried to fight it the more they were assaulted. He would have to contact a mutant named forge in order to figure out a fail safe and extra protection against external manipulation of cerebro.

Once the psychics were out of commission the surveylance cameras were cut, power and phonelines dropped, and the auxilary power was used to take out their generators by someone who could manipulate electrical fields and metal... big mystery that. The mansions actual defenses had been outfitted with plastic models long ago to protect against that very attractive man in the red armor.... but... oh yes he apparently found a weekness they had fooloshly overlooked.

After that it was a matter of dividing and conquring, creating fake dangers to draw out the instructors and resident X-men and over-powering/outnumbering them...

Logan wore rough blue jeans, a cowboy hat and some very expensive boots Emma had bought him for his birthday. They were uncomfortable but she said he needed to wear them in. He listened to the sound of the nearbye forest, sniffed the air whenever anything slightly out of the ordinary came up, and smoked something phalic.

Normally on a day like this he would have teased Scott a bit as the very propper man tried not to look at his half naked body, but Cyclops was absorbed in his thoughts and periodically changing the electromagnetic filters on his visor.

Wolverine sat back and looked up at the sky, Magnus...


	5. Numbers

// A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed this little slash. It gives me happy to see what people think (and to know anyone thinks anything about it). TY!

To answer some questions and some things not directly stated in the narative...

1. Pyro. I know the Iceman/Pyro pair is popular. I don't wanna say I won't do it. But I want to get into both characters sepperately to make sure they don't feel like a cliche together. A bitt hoity-toity of me I know but I think it will make a possibility like that more satisfying.

2. Kitty, Bobby, Rogue, Collosus, and Angel are all in their late teens. The older x-men however are not as old as they were in the movie, Emma, Storm, Jean, Cyclops and Beast are all in their early-mid twenties, Xavier and Magneto appear to be in their early 40's and Wolverines age is of course indeterminate but you can picture him looking like Hugh Jackman if you want to.

//

*I do not own the characters (marvel does) I just think they're hot*

She slinked through the halls, ok she walked but for some reason she felt like she was all slinky, not the toy kind the other kind.

Rogue checked around to ensure no one would disturb her, then turned the doorknob and entered a well lit room decored in sky blues and mint greens. A large rug lay on the floor under the bed which was finely and clearly handcrafted, it was the only thing that didn't match the immaculate almost obsessively well organized room.

On the cedar wood desk near the large open windows lay an open laptop, it's screen alit with some programming code Rogue didn't recognize scrolling upward at an alarming rate. On the bed in the center of the room, adjacent the armoir, lay Kitty Pride. Her dear Kitty.

Kitty was awake but pretended not to notice the striking figure entering from her right. Rogue brushed back her one white lock of hair habitually (which emma had annoyingly pointed out was probably left purposefully to fall in her face just so she could do so at opportune moments for dramatic effect) and sat at the foot of kitties bed, demanding to catch her eye.

Kitty finally relented and her freckled face turned to face the intruder. "What?"

"That's all I get?" rhetorized Rogue, "I get, 'what?'"

"I told Scott I wanted to be alone."

"Three days ago." Rogue pointed out.

"So, what do you want?" snapped Kitty.

"I want..." began Rogue, "... to see my girlfriend and make sure she's ok. You got a problem with that?"

This was a central theme of their relationship, Rogue was just as stubborn as Kitty, but for all intents and purposes, in very different ways. It was both a point of tension and an adhesive. Neither would ever back down from a problem between them. Rogue just tended to try to beat the problem to a pulp while Kitty needed to solve it and take it appart piece by piece.

Kitty gave rogue a long determined look before sighing. "I killed someone. Ok? Can't I be alone after I killed someone?" She lay back on her many down feather pillows and looked up at the cieling.

"You didn't kill Mystique, trust me, they didn't find a body, no body, no dead shapeshifter..." Rogue stated with sardonic finality.

"You weren't there!" Kitty was suddenly sitting up and yelling full-mell at her companion. Rogue didn't blink. "You didn't stick a sword into a persons body and watch them fall! You didn't see her blood!..." Kitty stopped and looked down at her covers, then burried her face in her hands and sobbed.

In the briefest of moments Rogue was beside her, pulling her into an embrace and moving crying-head to waiting shoulder.

They stayed like that for a while. Rogue gently running her fingers through Kitties wave-curley hair. Kitty sobbing and sobbing into Rogues shoulder. Holding onto eachother so tightly one would think Rogue was the only thing keeping the young mutant from falling off the world.

When the shaking and crying eased in urgency Kitty asked for a tissue.

"I did it though."

*the sound of blowing-nose*

"I know."

"Crying doesn't make it not happened."

"There are so many things wrong with that sentance."

Kitty threw a pillow at Rogue impudently, her stress eased by the irony of Rogue correcting her grammer.

"So you did, you had to, she attacked the x-men, she attacked our home, you were just protecting us." Rogue said quietly as she wiped away Kitty's tears with a tissue that wasn't drenched in snot.

"That's just the thing."

Rogue waited for her to continue.

"I didn't have to." Kitty said with the numbness of the resigned.

"Kitty..."

"No, I didn't have to. I planned it."

Rogue sat back scowling.

"I planned the whole thing. I just took all the variables and ran the scenerio. Like it was chess. She was a better fighter, so I goated her into a fight knowing she'd get cocky. Then I just waited, waited till she got frustrated, off balance, put the boken in her chest. And..."

"Kitty stop!" said Rogue as she held her girlfriend by the shoulders, looking deep into her eyes. "You did what you had to do."

"No. I didn't Rogue." Kitty was in full monotone "I let go of the boken, because I knew it was the simplest solution, not because it was the only option, it was just the most likely to end the fight in my favor, achieve the objective. I didn't have to. I just played the numbers."


	6. Games

((Marvel owns the X-men, I just think they're hot))

He sat hunched over the desk, the man in red glasses.

He typed quickly on a futuresque laptop then moved to a stack of large paper blueprints and traced something with a pencil.

There was a point in the air duct where a person could sneak from one floor to another without being detected, but the major flaw of security so far was the telepaths. He would need to speak to the Proffesor, Beast, and Forge about designing some kind of psychic sensor or ward that could be placed around the parimiter of the school. It could propably be automated by cerebro.

A hand reached over his shoulder and down to his chest, rubbing gently as it went.

"Hello Gambit." said Scott, nonplussed.

"Hello Mon-Ami." replied the thief as he leaned in to Mr. Summers' ear and began to lightly nibble, tickling the lobe with his tongue.

Scott shuttered in guilty pleasure before composing himself. He turned his head toward the wayward mutant and kissed him gently on the lips.

Gambit held the kiss moving his hands lower down the other mans torso, unbuttoning the well tailored shirt as he went.

Scott pulled away and held Gambits searching hand.

"I would love to, really I would, but this... " he gestured to the mess of blue-prints and reports on his desk "... needs to have priority tonight."

Gambit folded his arms and stood up. "What else is new."

"Gambit, I'm sorry... " began Scott "... but we were attacked, and I need to figure out how they got in, and how to upgrade the mansions security."

"There is no such thing. You are always working, take a night for yourself and come with me." Gambit carressed the side of Cyclopses face with the back of his hand.

"You know I can't do that. I have responsibilities, people were in danger and it was my fault for not forseeing the attack, I have to fix this."

Red eyes pierced through shades into red eyes for a moment.

"Oh do you?" chided Gambit playfully.

With a quick flip of his wrist he snatched Cyclops' glasses and dodged the inevitable blast of red plasma which shot the window out.

"GAMBIT WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!" yelled Scott as he lunged forward to retrieve the glasses.

Gambit spun away onto a nearbye table with practiced ease.

"Getting your attention."

"Give back my glasses Gambit, and also reimburse me for the window."

"I suppose we could make a deal." said gambit with a wry smile.

"What?"

"Well you give me a little one on one, you get your glasses back. You'll just have to keep your eyes shut."

Scott sighed and reached over to the top droor of his desk pulling out spare ruby quartz glasses five years out of fashion. "Ok, " he said putting them on "... you and I have some 'one on one' ... " he made air quote-hand-gestures "... and you help me identify flaws in the mansion security system."

Gambit tossed the stolen-now-useless-to-him glasses aside and folded his arms considering.

"One hour of your attention, that's all I'm asking." added scott. "You're the best thief I know, and it would really help me protect the kids here... you remember the young innocent children... I think Peter just got a puppy too..."

Gambit held up his hand in protest. "Alright alright, that's enough, I'll do it for peter and his peter."

"Don't you mea..."

"I said what I said."

Scott smiled and moved in close to the Caijun wrapping his arms around the mans waste and pulling him into a long sensual kiss.

They fucked and made love intermitantly for the better part of the night, finally drifting off to sleep in eachothers arms gambits eyes widened...

"You planned this!? Didn't you?" he said in teasing astonishment "You get to have sex with **me, **and you get my help on your little project!"

Scott smiled and nibbled at gambits lower lip. "I've been told I'm an excellent strategist."

// Thoughts? I consider wether or not to be more graphic, or more pornographic.


	7. The War Room

{I do not own the X-Men, I just think they're hot}

Chapter 7: "The War-Room"

5:00am

They filed in solemnly. The first arrival was Dr. McCoy who sat at one side of the large round table in the surgical smelling metallic blue room. He immediately went to the wall, pressed a button and waited impatiently, there was a small synthetic beep and a square portion of the wall opened to reveal a thermos full of steaming coffee.1

Dr. McCoy took the coffee and began sipping it like a shipwreck victim who had been without water for weeks.

5:15am

Scott Summers walked into the War Room, his clothes pressed, his Earl Grey safely in hand, carrying a Gucci Leather case.

He sat down next to beast and proceeded to pull out his laptop, his palm-top, and various hard-copies and flash drives which he plugged into ports on the round tables hard surface. A column of spiraling images appeared suspended between the center of the tables surface and a black disk in the ceiling of matching diameter.

"Beat me again hank."

"It helps when you're slightly nocturnal by nature."

5:24am

A foot came through the ceiling followed by a leg and then the rest of the body of a young woman. Kitty Pryde floated gracefully to the ground and stepped from the air carrying her own shoulder bag (Manolo Blahnik), she followed suit of Cyclops with laptop and flash drives which she plugged in (though no response came from the holographic display, hers were for download versus upload), and yawned before finally deciding on a bit of coffee, lots of cream and sugar from the service partition.

"Kind of early for you Shadow?"

"I haven't been sleeping well."

5:31am

The room became noticeably colder as Bobby Drake walked through the door yawning and stretching, half an hour late so as to throw off any suspicion that he had been in the same bed as the good doctor.

"Um... Bobby." chided scott without looking up as all three drinks began to frost over.

"Oh sorry... I still have trouble with that when I'm tired." replied the Iceman as he yawned again letting out a visibly cold stream of air from his mouth.

"Well keep a handle on it, you'll mess with the display." Scott said going back for a third review of his notes. He did his best to keep himself from sounding too harsh, he admired Bobbies care free spirit, but was constantly reminded by the younger x-person how much control he himself had to maintain. A few nightmares about waking up with your special eye coverings removed and punching a hole through your lovers head will do that to a person. Though now he had managed to condition himself to wake up with his eyes closed pretty consistently.

"Don't worry about it too much... " encouraged Kitty at the sight of Bobbies traditional sad puppy look in Scotts direction "... I've been stepping out of my shoes all morning."

Kitty bonked her coffee cup against the side of the table and listened to the dull thud of the ice inside.

"Well... maybe worry about it a little bit."

6:00am

The X-Women and X-Men sat around the table as Cyclops stood to begin. Present members were only those needed for the missions. Beast, Iceman, Shadowcat, Rogue, Storm, Wolverine, Frost, Collosus, Nightcrawler and Proffesor Xavier.

"The attack on the Mansion two nights ago... " began Cyclops "... was unprecedented, and by all accounts shouldn't have happened."

Pausing for effect, he continued.

"I've compiled the data from accounts and surveillance and Kitty helped me reconstruct the system data. Here's how it went down. First the Psychics were hit long range. We believe aided by technology, the attack was methodical and effective, a Psychic feedback was projected across the grounds, all the telepaths who tried to access the aberration or expand their consciousness to sense the intruders were pulled into a loop which used their own mind against them."

"While the psychics went down the rest of us were taken out systematically. Mystique hit me in the hanger bay as I was trying to help the proffesor, storm had to deal with avalanche in the upper levels."

"I've gone over the data 53 times and I had an expert in the field of Security and Espianage review it for me..."

At this both Proffesor Xavier and Emma Frost stifled a giggle which Scott promptly ignored.

"... The system was hacked by an expert, blind spots were taken advantage of in the surveillance, Magneto used electromagnetic fields to cut out the cameras and inferred. We didn't even see them until they reached Cerebro."

"Which brings me to the first order of business, defense. I've printed out files on new mansion security procedures. One major difference is that In the future when a psychic comes under assault, we will not rush to their aide... "

This incited a chorus of murmurs and one very angry look from Orroro.

"I know it's against our feelings, but our feelings were taken advantage of... if a Psychic is under assault there is nothing a non-telepath can do to help them. Sound the alarm, get ready for a fight, because whoever went after them will be coming after you."

Protests started to arise but emma put up her hand. "He's right. Don't waste time watching us squirm, you need to take care of yourselves and the students." at this she placed a hand softly over Orroro's, who returned the touch and calmed down a little.

"A friend of mine is looking into some plastic and photonic based surveylance that won't be easily manipulated by electromagnetics. Also we are going to start a gaurd shift. It will rotate so no one person should loose too much sleep."

"About time." chimed in Logan.

"It will be two-fold, a guard on duty in the Danger Room Surveillance room, and one near the front of the mansion, preferably a power-house who can take a hit. Also we're working on some automated upgrades for Cerebro."

Bobby yawned. "I don't see what this has to do with getting up at 5 in the morning?"

"Thank you Bobby." Scott rebuttled politely "Which brings us to the next order of business. Proffesor?"

Xaviers chair rose slightly as touched a button on the panel of the table and the holographic display changed to project several images including Cerebro, Several profiles of mutants, and a rotating island from an aerial view. "Based on the Data Scott and Kitty could compile we believe that Magneto was after information on various mutant populations and their movements over the last five years."

"What do you think he's going to do with it?" asked storm bluntly.

"We... aren't quite sure... there are a number of..."

"Professor," cut in Rogue "... it's us, you don't have to coddle. If you had to guess, what do **you** think Magneto will do with it?"

The professor sighed... "You're quite right. If I had to guess... he is gathering the data so he can strategically protect them."

"The Mutants?" asked Rogue.

"Yes."

"From what?" queried Emma Frost.

Professor Xavier folded his hands and looked down.

"From whatever he's going to do to everyone else."


	8. Infiltrate

((I do not own the X-Men, I just think they're hot))

The engines began to whir as the last of the passengers took their seats. Bobby had head phones in his ears and was mouthing the lyrics to a popular tune. Hank finished storing the last of the cargo in the hold and then sat down next to Kitty who was busy hacking away on her lap-top.

The turbine fired and the Jet shot forward with a velocity that would have startled less seasoned passengers on the Blackbird.

The large bay doors opened with uncanny timing as the plane shot out from behind the waterfall, on the cliff side of the Xavier Institute grounds, gaining altitude quickly.

Rogue waited for her ears to pop then turned to the seat next to her. "Got any snacks Nightcrawler?"

The blue mutant reached into his carrying pack and pulled out two bags of peanuts, tossing one to Rogue.

"Peanuts?" said Rogue raising an eyebrow.

"I thought it would be, what is the word... Ironic?" said Kurt as he opened his bag.

"That's not technically ironic." chimed beast from behind.

Half an hour later Scott announced over the loudspeaker "ETA three minutes plus two for touch-down."

"Really?" asked Beast looking up. "Sometimes this high-end technology is quite double edged. I remember when mission flights allowed time for a good in-flight book."

"A whole book?" asked Kurt ahead of him.

Hank just shrugged.

"Yeah, a book or time to finish the program for the mission we're on." growled Kitty.

"Do you need some help Katheryn?" asked beast looking over her shoulder. "Will it be ready by touch-down?"

"I got it I got it..." Kitty waved hank away with one hand. "I usually just like to run a few more tests."

"You ran seven."

"What are you? Mr. Watch-Dog-mutant blue function burndrive float binomial..."

"Was that english?" Rogue asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Technically, yes. I say we leave her to it." answered Beast as he got up and deftly moved to the back of the craft to begin unpacking his equipment.

The small plane touched down almost inaudibly, the only sound emanated from a slight whir from the stealth engines. The clearing was surrounded by a dense thicket of evergreens and the summer sun shown on a path leading out of the forest toward a grouping of industrial looking buildings within a barb-wire fence. A few towers dotted the perimeter and a lone guard sat in a booth by the main gate.

The blackbird lowered a ramp underneath to the ground below and the mutants descended in light padded jump-suits, tailored to each individual.

"Isn't this more of a job for Agent X" remarked Rogue as she helped Hank set up his surveillance gear a few meters from the plane.

"X is on assignment in Japan." answered Cyclops shortly, his stylish glasses traded for a stylish blue visor with a single red lense. Holding his hand to the side he tapped out controls as he surveyed the surroundings and facility below. His vision switched from a tactical readout showing potential projectile trajectories to inferred to ultra-violet. "This looks like it will do. Beast you about set up?"

Beast growled an "Eye-Eye fearless mono-eye." as he oppened up his computer and began typing away at inhuman speeds on the extra large keys.

"Alright then. Nightcrawler. You're go."

Kurt looked around hesitantly then disappeared in a puff of purple sulfurous smoke, reappearing almost the same instant on top of the blackbird. He flipped down his own headgear with a monocle-like lens covering one eye and then with a "Bamf!" he was out of sight.

Rogue stood a few yards in front of beasts computer, facing a camera, and waited.

Kurt appeared below one of the Guard Towers and crawled his way up the far side from the others, peering in a window. Then *Bamf!*, he was inside the tower and the guard was turning toward the loud noise. Kurt grabbed him and *BAMF!* he and the guard appeared between the camera and Rogue. *BAMF!* Kurt was gone, and before the Guard could register his new surroundings or even get his footing, Rogue had stepped forward and touched him on the side of the face.

The Gaurd was unconcious in seconds and Bobby was pulling him off to the side just as Kurt appeared again holding another of the facilities security force.

This repeated 12 times, Kurt using the cameras feed to his eyewhere to teleport back directly to the clearing before rogue. In under a minute the entire peripheral gaurd were laying unconcious on the ground under a tree near the clearing, tied gagged and blind folded, not to mention unconcious.

"Rogue?" asked Cyclops.

Rogue had a hand to her head as if fighting off a headache. She shook herself slightly, then composed, answered "The main security is monitered from two points. The top floor of the main buildings central tower, and a backup facility in building 13B." As she spoke, Rogue walked to beasts computer, abruptly shoving him out of the way and began typing away with practiced ease. "The main security center will be expecting a report from GT-... Gaurd Tower C9 in 30 seconds."

Rogues eyes raced over the screen as fast as her hands flew over the keyboard.

"That's not enough time to take ou..." began Cyclops.

"Everyone shutup." commanded Rogue as she pulled on a headset with a mouthpiece.

No one moved.

"This is GT-C9 Reporting for O' 1300 check..." came a mans voice with a slight Kentucky accent out of the young woman's mouth "... everything looks clear here, though we seem to be getting some spikes from the wireless feed, do you think you could send Heather over to check it out?"

"Read that GT-C9, we'll have her down there in about 10. She's looking at the satellite dish right now. We picked up a weird blip on radar about half an hour ago, probably a hawk or something." returned the voice on the other end. "Say hi to Mika for me."

"Read that Tower one. GT-C9 Out."

Rogue clicked the mouse once, held up her finger for a moment and then let it down to signal they could speak again.

"Alright. You have seven minutes to take out Tower One. I'll have to keep rolling the security calls until you have the second tower down." Instructed Rogue letting a disgruntled Beast back to his computer.

Cyclops nodded.

"You are really creepy sometimes you know that?" remarked Bobby giving Rogue his best impression of someone witnessing a possession.

"Says the boy who turned his hampster into a snow-cone." retorded Rogue, writing some stuff down for Beast.

Bobby looked like he was about to cry, and Beast growled a little to his own surprise but Rogue ignored it.

Cyclops pulled Bobby and Kitty toward Kurt. "Get your head in the game Iceman."

Kurt waited till they were all holding hands in an outward facing circle. "Mark off."

"Shadow 4."

"Cyclops 3."

"Iceman 2."

"Nightcrawler 1."

*BAMF!*

They appeared on the roof of the central tower above the Main Security Room and fell through it like it were air.

Within the circular room four people were busy at various tasks. Two sat at the Monitoring Station, one man was up getting water from a cooler and the last was standing by the door as a sentry.

Eight legs decended morbidly from above like ghosts drifting into the world of the living.

"What the F..." but the sentries profanity was cut short by a thin red beam which hit him dead center in the chest, tossing him back against the door with a concussive force that left him falling limp and unconscious to the floor.

The man getting water turned to see what had happened but the cooler beside him exploded into a cage of ice which enveloped him, covering his mouth but carefully leaving the nose free, so he could breath but not yell (well not very loud).

At the same moment the two Guards at the Monitoring Station were interrupted by a puff of purple smoke that caught their senses with the smell of sulfur just before a foot slammed into each of their respective heads on either side of Nightcrawler.

Before they could react the blue mutant grabbed them both, saying into his headpiece "I've got a double order!" and dissapearing with them into wiffs of purple air.

******

Back at the clearing Rogue was relaying an update to the back-up security center when the call came through to her computer, she couldn't say a warning without blowing her cover and Nightcrawler appeared 6 feet in front of her with two guards who fell to the floor making a racket.

"What was that!?" asked the voice through the headset.

Rogue quickly turned down the input volume on her microphone as Beast flipped forward disarming both men and quieting one in each arm in a choke hold until they passed out. He looked to Rogue and shrugged.

"Oh sorry Jim, that was just Darla and Stephen horsing around... cut it out guys! You know the rules! No Lunch-Break-Laser-Tag in Tower-1, Keep it outside!" Yelled Rogue in a mans voice which was becoming gradually more young and feminine by the second.

"I didn't know Darla and Stephen liked Lazer Tag?" said the voice.

"Apparently they do. Ok I'm out. I gotta go put a stop to them before they break something."

"You alright Chris? You sound like you have a cold or something."

"A little. Ok Tower 1 Out."

Rogue hung up quickly and held up her hands in response to beast.

"Got me a visual Kitty?" Nightcrawler asked into his headset before nodding and vanishing.

Rogue moved over and touched the two gaurds as Beast moved back to his computer. As soon as her hands touched skin her eyes widened and she ran back to the computer nearly tackling Hank out of the way.

"Kitty... you need to go now!" Rogue yelled into the microphone. "Take out the backup Station! I'm not Chris! My names not Chris! Wasn't Chris!"

"*What?*" asked a bewildered Kitty on the other end."

"We're Made! Go!"

****************

Nightcrawler appeared behind Shadowcat. The young woman was typing furiously. "They've started an automated lockout program, I can take it down from here but you have to secure the other point of access like five minutes ago."

"Get me a visual" said nightcrawler.

"On it."

Scott surveyed the situation. "Alright we'll work around it."

"I've got it." exclaimed Kitty bringing up an image of the back up Security Station on one of the monitors.

Nightcrawler grabbed Iceman and Cyclops, just as he disappeared into vapor three soldiers marched into the screen from below.

"SHIT!"

**********

Inside the back up Security Station several things happened at once.

There was an explosion of smoke and three figures appeared out of no where.

There was a blood-curdling demonic shriek of pain.

One of the incoming guards fell along with the blue Mutant who had just appeared.

The six other gaurds in the room drew their weapons.

Someone yelled "Iceman down!"

Blasts of red energy shot out at an almost incomprehensible speed in a sporadic arch around the room.

Five seconds later seven soldiers lay, unconscious. Cyclops was bent over a reeling Nightcrawler who was doing his best to keep from screaming again.

In the teleporting mutants upper thigh stuck the barrel of one of the gaurds guns. It stuck there as though it had always been a part of the leg, no blood spread and no open wound was visible even in the pant leg.

"Kurt, are you cogent?"

"I don't.... know.... what that means...." seethed Nightcrawler through clenched teeth.

"Can you teleport back to the clearing?" asked Scott.

After a moment of wrestling with another shot of searing pain Nightcrawler responded "Yes..."

"Go. Let beast fix you up, we can handle the rest from here."

"But..."

"I said go!" Ordered Cyclops.

Nightcrawler closed his eyes as Cyclops relayed the situation to Beast through his visor-com, then vanished.

As soon as he was gone Cyclops touched the com button on the side of his visor. "Kitty! What the hell!?"

**"I'm sorry! I'm Sorry! They walked in right as you guys ported out! There was nothing I could do!" **came the panicked voice from the visors com, **"I... Is Kurt alright?"**

"He'll live, he'll be fine, just a flesh-wound." replied Cyclops carefully. "We'll have to work the objective without him. I think Iceman and I can handle our end."

Kitties voice came through calmer and more reasoned now, matching Cyclops' dry impassioned tone **"I can finish up here in about 15 minutes and meet your team at the target."**

"We can't afford to wait for you. If we lose contact and you don't see us, don't wait around either, just extract the target and head to the randevu". the Auburn haired man instructed.

**"Copy that." **came the reply **"Shadowcat out."**

Cyclops began tying up the guards before they could wake up while Iceman double checked the surveillance feeds and the com log.

"Do you really think he'll be ok?" Bobby asked after a few minutes."I mean... that looked like it hit a lot of muscle..."

"I had to make Kitty think it." replied Cyclops.

There was a loud *CLANG* as something hit the floor behind Cyclops. He turned instinctively moving his hand up to the shutter control on his visor.

"GOD! What is wrong with you!?" Iceman yelled at the older X-Man, a single tear frozen on his cheek.

"Iceman..." Cyclops began standing up.

"Kurt could be crippled, and all you care about is whether or not Kitty does her job?!" as the young blond yelled monitors frosted over and air became frigid.

"Bobby calm down... I'm sure Beast will be able to help him. You have to keep your head in the game." Cyclopse took a step forward, explaining.

"My friends... my **family** being hurt is more important than a game! Or some stupid mission to beat magneto to whatever he's after this year." said Bobby, this time in a quiet growl, cold and unyielding. "It should be the most important thing to you too."

Scott stopped for a second at these words.

"Bobby... you're right."

Iceman looked up. "What?"

"Protecting my family, you and Kurt... that's more important than anything else I do with the X-Men." Cyclops walked forward and put a hand on either of Bobbies shoulders.

"And in order to do that we have to do take measures like this mission, if we fail Kurt will be in much greater danger... so will Angel, so will John, so will Kitty, so will you." Cyclops was much closer now, he was leaning down slightly, his visor level with Icemans' eyes.

Scott wasn't always aware of it but his visor had it's own peculiar effect on how people saw him. Because his eyes and part of his face were obscured, it gave him a greater air of calculating detachment and cold objectivity. As a leader this was often useful because it made his decisions seem untainted with emotion, but as a person it made him seem emotionless at times, even callous.

"I have to do this for all of you. Will you help me?"

As Cyclops spoke the glowing red light from his visor faded away revealing, for a moment, two piercing eyes with bright-red still-glowing pupils, beneath the lower end of a furrowed brow. From Bobbies vantage point he could see for the first time the compassion and worry in Scott's eyes.

"You know you can count on me." replied Iceman.

Scott leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Bobby's forehead.

*********

The slight figure dropped inaudibly from the ceiling and ducked into a shadow.

A palm-top computer was produced from a pocket in her jump-suit. She pulled out two plugs at the end and plugged them into the wall.

"Ok dragon... do your thing." Kitty whispered pressing a couple buttons.

Three minutes later the screen blinked and displayed "Wireless control established. Lockheed viral infestation 100%."

She smiled wryly as she pulled back the analog plugs and stored the palm top in a zippered/padded pouch by her left hip.

"Now for the target."

*********

The two rushed down the hall moderating their pace only to keep an eye out for any more security.

A woman stepped out of a doorway in a white lab-coat, turned toward them and opened her mouth to scream but it was immediately enveloped in ice. A very thin red beam hit her in the chest and she fell backward.

Her eyes wide with fear the woman watched as the two intruders slapped a plastic cuff onto her wrists and placed her back inside the bathroom she'd exited a moment before.

One of them whispered "Sorry" before closing the door.

Scott led the way down the corridor until they reached two large metal doors with a keypad security code.

"Kitty you on?" asked Cyclops.

**"Online but keep it short" **whispered the responder.

"Can you give us a visual on room CS-39? Patch it through to beast and have him send it to my visor."

**"Well what did you think I was gunna do, fax it to you?"**

A moment later Cyclops' visor displayed a small image in his upper right field of vision. 15 personel walked in and out of the large room, most of them in white lab-coats.

"Shit."

"What?" Asked bobby in a low voice.

"Too many civilians." responded Cyclops. "Kitty?"

**"I'll divert power from the room for 60 seconds letting the door open and shutting down the light from surrounding halls. It will look like a temporary short in the system and you'll have to go inferred." **said Shadowcat.

"Did you think I was going to feel my way across?" retorted Cyclops.

**"Leave the witty to the proffessionals boss." **snided Kitty, **"3 2 1... you're go."**

The lights in the hall went out and the doors swung open as Cyclops adjusted his vision and grabbed Icemans cold hand.

People were making random exclamations of astonishment inside. Several tables and large pieces of machinery gave the two mutants the cover they needed to reach the apposing door and slip through unnoticed.

*********

Kitty reached the hallway that led around in a large circle. Several doors lined this area, which she ignored completely, checking her palm-top for a camera feed before shutting it down momentarily and stepping through the wall. Inside she ducked behind a convenient crate. The room had three walkways and several control panels all facing inward. Several lab-coats and two guards dotted the 50 foot area haphazardly. At the very center was a pod of some-kind. As she made her way to an empty control panel (occasionally ducking under the floor for cover) she saw someone walk into the pod, enter a code, and the floor open up as the pod descended. _"An elevator?"_ she thought.

Kitty passed through a large crate and found herself in a closely packed nest of lab-coats. She grabbed a few and ascended behind the control pannel wearing a neat coat with a tag that read "Irene" and sporting her own reading glasses.

She casually began typing into semi-circular computer interface then stopped and calmly walked to the wall pretending to touch the intercom button. "Scott, this is 'Irene', I think the situation needs reassessment."

**"I read you Irene, where should we meet to discuss it."**

"The break-room outside of the lift area... You know, room BR-5."

Kitty pretended to turn off the intercom, then strolled casually out the nearest door.

*********

Iceman and Scott rounded the corner finally reaching door L-9. They fed a security key-card through the slot and entered the hall.

Making a mad dash they sped to the left through the circular hallway, one more swipe of the card and they were inside an immaculate low ceilinged room with stylish, modern, furniture. Two abstract polygonal tables stood with several chairs beside diametrically apposed to a small central kitchenette. A refrigerator was built into the wall and there were rows of lockers with their own key access slots.

Sitting in the nearest chair was a young woman in a labcoat and glasses who looked up expectantly.

"We have a problem." she stated flatly.

///

*omg ok so this is a super longerish chapter than my usual so I'm going to split it into two parts. A little break and then more fun with covert opps.*

///


	9. Extract

((I do not own the X-Men I just think Cyclops is hot!))

"We have a problem."

The young woman sat in a cool white panneled room at a chair facing away from an oddly shapped modern looking table. Her hair was wavy, down to her shoulders, and she wore a white lab-coat over a blue jumpsuit, distinguished spectacles adorning her face. To her right was a small central kitchenette with a sink and stove, a refrigerator built into the wall, and a row of lockers with electronic locks for key cards.

"Care to fill us in?" querried Cyclops, standing just inside the door of the small break-room.

Bobby immediately walked to the in-wall refrigerator and oppened it looking for snacks.

"First of all, this place isn't what we thought it was. Secondly, it's a lot bigger than we thought it was." answered Kitty pulling out her palm top and fiddling with it.

The electronic lock behind Cyclops beeped and it's indicator light went red.

"Don't want to be disturbed." explained the young Katheryn Pryde.

"So...." led Cyclops taking a seat accross from her.

"So, the "Target" is aproximately five miles below us." Began Kitty "Because this isn't some ho-dunk tech research facility. It's a massive particle accelorator. And the Target is at the very bottom at the very center."

"Well the proffessor only gave us the longitude and lattitude he pulled from Mystiques mind before..."

"Before I stuck her with a sword. Got it."

"So we expected this sort of complication." continued Cyclops. "All we had on the facility was what you and beast could pull off the internet."

"Well it's still a well kept secret from what I can tell, they don't want anyone to know what they're doing down there." Kitty pondered.

"But the problem specifically is that we have to get down there undetected and I'm assuming they don't have a back stairway." Cyclops added.

"Just the one lift." Kitty said off-hand "Which means your going to need to wear glasses if we want to get to the target without fighting our way through ever lab-coat in the facility."

"I'm sorry?"

Kitty reached down to the seat beside her and pulled up two lab coats, a couple jeans and t-shirts, a small bag, three key-cards, and a clipboard, placing them on the table.

"Covert form the latin _cooperire,_ 'to cover over.'" Kitty said sliding a set of clothes to Scott and handing one to Bobby who was munching on chocolate covered raisins and drinking a bottle of water.

********

Five minutes later three people in lab-coats emerged from the breakroom, traversed the circular hall and walked into the Lift Room.

The large circular room was still speckled with technicians, scientists and a couple gaurds. No one paid the three newcomers much notice until they approached the lift.

One of the gaurds walked over to them as Kitty swung her access card through.

"I'm sorry, I don't recognize you, can I see some ID?" Said the guard politely, giving the very young "scientists" and the man with the red sunglasses a very suspicious look.

"We're going down to run some tests on the... oh this is just easier with a psychic." said Scott lifting his glasses and blasting the guard in the chest with one eye as the lift doors opened.

"Cyke!" exclaimed Iceman running in after the other two as Kitty pressed furiously on her palm top and the other gaurd shot a few pointless warning shots.

The lift doors finally shut and they began to descend. "We're good but we're not that good, you both look like your in high school, no one wears red sun-glasses under-ground and we don't have any ID's to back up our story."

"Well there goes our Coop-er-eye-er" Bobby said throwing his hands up.

"C_ooperire." _chided Kitty still tapping away furiously. "There, lift is locked but I couldn't block their signal to the downstairs."

"We should expect a greeting party." said Scott.

"I can't believe we did a costume change for nothing." said Bobby pulling off his shirt and reaching into his bag for the x-uniform he'd stowed.

Kitty hid rolling her eyes behind her long hair for a whole minute as the bois undressed and pretended not to be stealing glances at eachother in various degrees of nudity.

"Ready?" said Cyclops dawning his visor and calibrating it.

"Ready." replide Iceman looking to the door expectantly.

Nothing happened.

"Ummm..."

"It's FIVE miles down you two. We're dropping fast but not THAT fast." said Kitty from behind. "Should take at least 30 minutes."

"Shoot I would have spent longer undressing." said Bobby under his breath.

Ten minutes went by.

"So... you dating Beast?"

Another ten minutes went by.

"So... you and Gambit?"

Nine more minutes.

"Is it weird if your girlfriend is into hand-cuffs?"

DING

"Oh thank god we're here."

The doors openned to reveal a much much larger room than the one they had left. At least 30 meters accross it had a ridiculously high cieling several dark windows running completely around the sides at equal vertical intervals. The floor was a washed steel while the massive walls looked like a white polymer and the cieling was supported by enormous arched steal beams. In the center of the room stood a raised circular platform with a long metal cylindar about ten feet in diameter running from it's base all the way to the cieling.

The three stepped out cautiously into the room and were met with a loud voice. "Stay right where you are!" From behind the circular platform stepped a single man in large-red robotic armor with a gold finish. He moved toward them with a whir of engine and his of pressure valves. Raising his arm which looked like a claw but quickly shifted and pulled back revealing something that looked like the barrel of a rail-gun.

Iceman waved his arm instinctively erecting a large wall of ice.

Kitty gave Cyclops a significant look and then stepped out from behind the wall, walking toward the armored guard.

"I said stay where you are! Hands in the air!" yelled the tech-clad sentinal.

Kitty just ignored him and kept walking forward.

"I'm serious I don't want to shoot a little girl! Stop right where you are!"

"Oh but if I were a big girl it would be okay then?" Kitty retorted.

The guard raised his arm and began firing a stream of bullets which passed right through the little girl, chipping off pieces of the wall of ice behind her.

In one quick move Kitty stepped forward through the robotic suit, grabbing the man inside and pulling him to the ground with a loud thump.

The suit fell appart behind her, and as the man struggled to rise she grabbed his wrist, pulled off a pair of his own handcuffs through his belt and clipped his arms together behind his back.

Iceman and Cyclopse walked up behind them as the man started yelling obsenities.

Bobby leaned down and breathed a frost into the mans face. "Look..." he checked the nametag "... Trask is it? I can put you in a block of ice or freeze your whole bloody head if I want to, or you can sit calmly and wait for us to leave. Your choice."

The man just glared at Iceman but said nothing.

"Smart move." Iceman finished.

Kitty was standing with Cyclops at the control pannel for the cylindar, typing something out on her palm-top computer. "Ok I think I got it." She said.

Hydrolics hissed as the tube raised in layers revealing it's contents.

The X-Mens eyes widened as the target cam into view. A lone woman with jet-black hair lay unconcious on a metal bed, a net of electrodes covering her nude form, an IV drip by her side stuck into her arm.

"THIS... " exclaimed Kitty "... is the target?"

Cyclops walked up beside the woman and began removing electrodes carefully. "The proffessor only said that whatever Magneto was planning required three components to complete, and that one of them was here."

"Is she alive?" asked Bobby.

"Sedated." replied Cyclops taking off the last of the electrodes and carefully pulling out the IV.

"Is she a mutant?" asked Kitty.

"I don't know any more than you two about this, I promise." said Cyclops flatly. "We have to get her back to the mansion. Beast and the Professor can give us some answers, hopefully."

"This is sick." Said Bobby. "They just have her hooked up like a computer or a lab-rat... no way she signed up for this."

"Getting her out will be a problem." Said Kitty.

"Getting **us** out will be a problem." responded Cyclops, covering the woman in one of their spare lab-coats.

"Kitty could phase us out?" offered Bobby.

"Through five miles of solid earth and steel. I couldn't even phase myself that far. Plus, the whole needing to breath thing." countered Kitty.

"Ok, well, what then?" Bobby snapped.

"Can you lift us to the cieling? Just phasing the air below us?" asked Cyclops.

"I think so. Yeah." said Kitty catching on "It'll be like walking up a very LONG flight of stairs though".

"No need." said Bobby "Bring her over here, come stand by me."

The three stood together, Cyclops carrying the woman over his shoulder.

"Ok try to hold onto me if you can." Bobby ordered.

Closing his eyes and breathing softly, Iceman pointed his hands toward the ground, freezing a large area of ground below them.

"Ok."

A sound like humming energy mixed with a cold winter breaze emenated from the young mutant and the four rose through the air quickly on a rising pillar of ice.

At the top Scott instructed Iceman to make a bridge to the nearest wall. Then he took off his visor and openned his eyes.

The noise was almost deffening for the three people behind him as a wide cone of energy rushed forward, ripping through the metal cieling as if it werre thin paper. In a few moments Cyclops closed his eyes, stopping the burst of plasma, then picked up the woman again and led them accross the bridge to a long tunnel, his visor glowing softly for light as they entered.

**************

"I'm serious Kurt, this is going to be very painfull, you should take the anaesthetic."

"No I won't do it, " Kurt defiantly stated to Beast for the tenth time "... they may need me for an extraction and I can't risk teleporting on drugs."

Beast finally gave in and gave kurt a long piece of plastic to bite down on then turned on the lazer scalpal. He made a precise incission into the flesh where the barrel of the gun stuck into Nightcrawlers thigh (the rest of the gun having been cut off to make the proccess more accurate).

Kurts screams were loud enough to make rogue wince empathetically even with the bit. Finally the whole area where the barrel was lodged had ben cut through.

"This is going to hurt a lot." said Beast.

Nightcrawler just widened his eyes as if to say "I KNOW! Finish it already!"

Rogue held the blue mutants shoulders as Beast moved in with a small metalic instrument with a hooked blade. He lodged it at the end of the barrel within the leg, and moved it around cutting lose the fused flesh, then carefully removed the blade.

There was blood everywhere, soaking through the gerny in the back room of the jet.

As beast began cleaning it up and pulled out the surgical thread while rogue held a sterile cloth to the wound to hold back the blood, a loud noise like gravel being blasted came from somewhere toward the tail end of the blackbird.

Beast held the cloth with his very clean and dextrous foot while rogue went to a pannel on the blackbird, openning it up and pulling out a taser. She stepped out through the hanger door carefully, and a moment later yelled back "It's ok! They're back! And they brought some naked chick with them!"

"Good news" said beast as he threaded the needle through the skin.

"MMM BSST" came a muffled growl from his patient.

"Yes?" querried beast removing the bit.

"I'll take that anaesthetic now!"


End file.
